In all my research on how to overcome procrastination, the biggest suggestion is this: Do the work, get a reward. And it hasn’t worked for me. Just hasn’t. Why should I delay gratification? I’m an adult. I can go out and get whatever “reward” I want whether I’ve completed the work or not.

Slowly, though, something over the past couple of weeks changed. I don’t remember exactly when the switch flipped, but here’s what happened: I stopped thinking of the reward as a “reward”. It’s not the rigid: “Do the work, get the reward.” Rather, it has become: Complete step 1, proceed to step 2, and you just can’t proceed to step 2 until step 1 is complete.

Looking at it this way, “work” before “reward” becomes the natural order of things and that the reward is not a reward without the work—and the work is not complete without the reward.

Yeah, sounds a bit hokey to me, too. It works for me, though. And I just have to go with what works…